The Vanderslippers
I was woken abruptly at a quarter to five the other morning right in the sweet spot of my REM cycle. I know you’re not interested in hearing about the dream I was having right at that moment, but I’m going to tell you anyway. This is a dream for letterpress enthusiasts – specifically, Vandercook proof press enthusiasts. [Others may want to skip to the photographs below.]Â
In the dream I was admiring a pair of slippers a colleague had on her work bench, when my boss came by and snaffled them for himself. I was woken from the dream mid-protest, so there’s very little to tell narratively speaking. What made me laugh on waking were the slippers themselves – Chinese-style slip-ons, both insteps printed with the Vandercook logo, the earth encircled with the company name. In real life, my boss does own an SP-20, so it’s not such a long shot to imagine he and I arguing over who would get to wear the Vanderslippers.Â
As 2009 nears its end, I’d like to wish all Vandercooks a very happy birthday. I don’t believe the letterpress renaissance of the last ten years would have happened without the Vandercook, or without the public access studios that made them available to artists and writers wanting to learn to print. Happy 100th Vandercook!
My dream studios:
The Milan-based Italian Sales Representatives Display Van (with Universal 1).
Or the Vandercook Mobile Technical Center (with SP-15).
(Photos from here, courtesy Fritz Klinke.)
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